How The Rings of Power Created An Anti-Villain (Accidentally)
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- เผยแพร่เมื่อ 6 ก.ย. 2024
- The rings of power is an odd show. One that sprinkles so many bad characteristics among our supposed heroes that it is actually the villain that rises in this first season. Adar the anti-villain is perhaps the best thing about the rings of power, and in this video essay I will break down why he has gathered so much sympathy.
To become a truely great villain, there are a number of thematic tones to hit. From intriguing the audience, to creating a feeling of empathy. But more than that a truely great show has both incredible villains but also heroes that stand up against them. So where did the rings of power go wrong? Dive in to this video to find out.
#ringsofpower #lordoftherings #videoessay
0:42 - Adar First Scene Analysis
03:15 - Adar V RoP woke heroes
05:34 - What makes a good anti-villian
07:53 - Conclusion - Give me the meat and give it to me raw
Thanks for watching and if you are new here, welcome onboard - hit the subscribe and bell for more weekly analysis.
Hope you came for the sarcasm and stayed for the analysis! Back to turbocasm next week but every few weeks I do enjoy doing a video essay - even though this was supposed to be serious no jokes - I failed half way through! Thank you for dropping by and see you next week! Cue Nolan Braaaammmmmmm
Definitely came for the sarcasm 😁 but honestly it's like a therapy session hearing people tear into this shit show. The Lord of the Rings was such a huge part of my childhood that this show feels like a trauma
Roast therapy is best therapy. Same for me LOTR and the themes it explored is just incredible. Such a shame to get this after 20 years of wait. Big L
The good characters are evil, the evil ones good, leaving you rooting for the latter and despising the former, if only to bring the end of the show faster.
hard task to keep a straight face while doing a video essay on RoP. You did exceptionally well and gained a follower.
I'm so.sorry for this show. Could have been great but does not make much sense. It pains me to think of how the lore has been butchered...but even ignoring this aspect..the show is boring.Stuff happens but nothing really happens. People teleport around..hide in small villages and leaving behind fortified towers...It's a mess. it feels like a child playing with action figures making stuff up as they go.
but I concur: Adar is interesting.
That was good. - And perfectly on spot. The only somewhat interesting characters are Adar and Saubrand.
Seeing a long corrupted elf was pretty much the only thing they added that I thought was a good idea
Literally the only thing that has a good premise 👍🏼
yup literally all men in the show are either incompetent or corrupt and all women are show as strong born leaders and warriors and right
But it wasn't a new idea. Remember Benjen Stark from Game Of Thrones?
@@DrumEagle No one said it was a new idea.
@@DrumEagle Lady Stoneheart would be a better comparison
Finally someone talks about this guy. I was surprised by how much I liked him. I thought he was actually pretty badass, and all I could think was “yeah, he’s right. It’s not like the uruks asked to be tortured and gracelessly made, just give them a land to call home”. That scene where Galadriel confronts him, I was completely on his side the whole time, Galadriel was so much more sinister.
💯
Absolutely, just seems like a dude tryin to make the most of a bad situation. Having to make some bad choices for his collective.
He is my favorite character so don't be surprised anymore. You are not alone.
That moment when our amazing elvish princess threatened this guy with a absolute and thorough genocide wgile forcing him to watch it happen, I was laughing my ass off. I was in complete awe of how they unironically made me root for the orcs and papa Sauron lmao
Sinister is putting it mildly..she was a downright cruel and abusive bitch! And with nothing shown previously to grant her even that much credibility
The fact that the corrupted elf is more elf-looking than the actual elves in the series really says something.
I agree Adar (the actor who plays him too) is the best thing about this show
dam right
One exception though. Durins actor. That little dwarf carried the show for me.
Completely agree.
@@crappyfilmfans Dam haha, good one even IF it was a misspell :)
I think it's mostly because he's played by an actor. Who can act. It's a pretty amazing accomplishment to get the audience to cheer on the villains to kill everyone. But as not even pyroclastic flow can get rid of Galadriel, I've lost hope. Maybe Sauron can come up with something.
well that isn't great when it's i a classic fantasy narative where the good side conquers all odds and manage to stop the forces of evil....
Well this is so far removed from cannon that they could easily do so and no one would care.
Because of this likely the actor left, to good for this crapfest
I've never been so disappointed in a volcano. Mount Doom my ass.
It seems most people strongly empathize with Adar, but the real problem is that the writing is such a mess that I can't tell if this was the intended outcome or not.
We all know "breakout characters" always happen without the writer's foresight, and are doomed to fail if they try to force it, but has it ever happened with an antagonist like this?
The closest I can think of off the top of my head would be Quark, from the deep space nine.
PS: Adar was also the only character other than Gilgalad who looked like an elf, and the actor was one of the few who really seemed to care about playing his role.
I really think this is a case of them messing up the heroes and accidentally making Adar more likeable. From what I saw from the showrunners it hardly looks like an elaborate construct. Also love Quark from Deep space nine, I convinced my bro that he pooped from his mouth as his species didn't have poop holes. Good times
I don't think it's intended. They so lack self-awareness that they can't see they are making heroes villains and villains heroes probably because they see themselves as heroes and this justifies the heinous crap they've done in life. Bad people rarely see themselves as anything but right
I also don't think they intended to make the strong women characters all wrong thus strengthening the arguments of misogynists who think women shouldn't be in charge. Yet, look at the decisions of the strong female characters. They are almost always wrong and have severe consequences. Browen decides that a rabble of peasants should stay and fight in a flammable village which leads to the enemy getting the one thing he wanted to turn on the volcano. Had she just used daylight and booked it to the coast, they'd been better off. Nori takes in the Stranger that ends up getting her family regulated to the rear of the caravan risking certain death, they're followed by the Witches who burn their carts, and their leader gets killed rescuing a guy whose only real benefit was getting the tribe some apples when they weren't starving - not really worth the trouble if you ask me. Miriel risks another coup in raising a military expedition on the behalf of a rude elf whom Numenorians don't like. This leads to death and defeat as despite beating a few dozen orcs, the enemy achieved their goal that led to the deaths of several Numenorians and the blinding of the their Queen.
Then there's Galadriel. Just about every decision of hers was wrong, evil, or ruinous or all 3. She wants to abandon a soldier for no reason when their objective turned out to be just up ahead plus they were on a trail centuries' old so there was no hurry. If her men had not mutinied on her, Galadriel would have continue the hunt for Sauron - up North in the wrong direction. Her decision to jump ship ruined Middle Earth. She got Numenor to commit to aforementioned failed expedition that no doubt Ar-Pharazon will exploit to seize power leading to Numenor's destruction. And she brought Sauron back to Middle Earth, introducing him to Numenor and Ar-Pharazon, and taking him to Celebrimbor to forge the Rings of Power which will put them in perpetual danger for the next several thousand years. On top of that she doesn't tell anyone that 1) Sauron is back and 2) his grubby evil fingerprints are all over their project so it's got to be part of his nefarious scheme. People say the critics hate strong women but do they? The writers seemed to be the misogynists not the critics.
Watch as the incompetent showrunners try to gaslight everyone that it was intentional just so they can pat themselves on the back.
Vaas from FryCry 3 was a breakout character.
Out of DS9 I'd say Garrak is a better fit since he was supposed to be a one off character that everyone liked too much.
Adar feels like he actually learned things, felt things, as he saw the millenia. Gil Galad and Elendil have that maturity too. I didn't get that from any of the others at all.
yup tots agree
Yeah. i think so so too. the rest are just imature as children
@@sea-goatbr7588 Which does make sense as immortality would mean you didn't have to rush to mature yourself or fix issues or contemplate on your actions as quick.
The elves in the Silmarillion really show that they are far from a holy and perfect race of people, they can be petty, unwise, rash, violent, jealous, and all that stuff they brand humans or dwarves of having in them they have themselves. Elrond and his allies are pretty much the most wise and progressive of their race.
The other characters' conflicts and goals are so personal. It is all about their emotions and interpersonal relationships. Even Elrond, on a mission to save Elfkind, personalizes it deeply (not only with Durin, but with his father - asking him to do it for Elrond himself; same line with Gil-Galad). Likewise and consequently, they are prone to acting on impulsive emotions. After deciding to keep Adar alive, both Halbrand and Galadriel nearly kill him in a fit of anger, barely being stopped by the other. A bunch of petty bickering ancient children.
Adar comes off by contrast as the only adult around. Literally, he is a father figure to others. He has wisdom, self-control, a goal concerning the well-being of others, and he is willing to sacrifice for them - denying himself no less than the sun (possibly forever), agreeing to talk to spare his offspring from noble torture by gallant Galadriel.
You've said it better than I ever could - kudos :)
noble torture lmaooo
He is the most interesting character, and he covers a story that really does feel like it needs more addressing. Like are the orcs just hopeless corrupted being that can never be redeemed. The problem is they are telling this story at what feels like the totally wrong time. It's something that should be covered after Sauron is dead because that's when the orcs wouldn't be driven by some dark lord doing horrible things. They are trying to make us sympathize with a race that we know tries to cause mass genocide in the future. From what i know they are also corrupted twisted version of Eru creations that were tainted by Melkor himself so I'm not really sure if there should even be a story trying to make us sympathize with them.
The only people who act as Adults in the whole show are:
Adar the unintended Hero
Durin the III the king with Foresight
and Pharazon the politician working to put the county he serves at the top ...
and all of them the show wants you to consider as antagonist ....
Tells a lot about the people writing this.
Adar cares about his orc followers while Galadriel ignores all the wounded and dying around her after the volcano erupted. The one person she decides to save is the guy she's catching the feels for and turns out to be the Dark Lord. Incredible writing, ROP! Adar was more like the otherworldly elves that Tolkien wrote about and Peter Jackson captured in LOTR than the stuffy weak elves of ROP and the arrogant stupid Galadriel.
I feel part of this comes down to a lack of the Catholic spirituality that Tolkien put in the Lord of the Rings. The Elves lack that element so come across as flawed men, not wise, immortal beings who can be flawed in their proud nature - looking at you, Fëanor. So they have them new ones. Adar comes across as like a shambling parody of that, a tragic caricature. From a Catholic perspective, Adar is an enigma, a being who’s very nature was twisted and changed beyond its own free will, and now must follow this new nature its been forced into. Tolkien always hated having made the orcs antagonistic because he felt all beings deserve salvation and have a chance at it. I feel like he’d appreciate the approach taken here with the orcs.
Adar and Sauron - the actual heroes of ROP
I mean seriously both are more heroic than any other character of the main cast.
(then there's also Not-Gandalf but he's basically Groot at this point)
Sauron was always honest and tried to help Galadriel and her people (after she forced him into a position he didn't want to be in)
He also helped saving her whole race because Celebrimbor the best smith alive doesn't know sh*t.
And no he didn't manipulate Galadriel into doing anything.
She did everything of her own free will and her own initiative.
At this point I'm wondering if she just created this rumor of him being this great manipulator to distract from the fact that she was bffs with the bad guy.
And Adar just wants a place for his people.
The writers forgot who the good guys and the bad guys were, easy mistake
there is nothing good in Rings of Power. Not one second,
@@FireCrack83 end credits maybe?
@@crappyfilmfans I guess if you're a crappy song fan too, then last episode's sung poem of the rings would be surely be a blast.
Our "heroes" are a village nurse who for some reason gets put in charge of defense when there is a 200+ year old elf warrior shes screwing and then we have Guyladriels, miss cant get over dead brother but forgets about alive husband, is an actual genocidal Na*i. They did an amazing job of getting us to go for the bad guys.
I love how Adar and his orc legions are unique. Unlike the dark-armored orcs who serve Sauron and Morgoth, Adar's orc legions wear white cloaks and elvish armor. The orcs are mimicking Adar's elvish past and are somewhat adopting elvish culture. This is significant as orcs were created from tortured elves. I am wishing for a Shadow of War conflict between Adar's orc legions and Sauron's dark forces (Orcs, Easterlings, etc).
> I am wishing...
Shelob too?
Amazing idea
I totally felt the first season should have focused on the relationship between him and Halbrand rather than Galadriel and Halbrand (since they were doing an entirely new story anyway)
Was so much room for this and more interesting avenues and they went through cliche road
Impossible as both are white males
No sarcasm. I thought the introduction of Adar was a good scene (maybe the only one in the whole season!). Joseph Mawle is a great actor. Wanted more of Adar, less of everything else! You're so right about his believable elf-like poise.
Yeah same, bit rubbish he wasnt at all in the final episode
There are a few indications that the Noldor and Sindar in the Silmarillion deeply distrusted Elves that were captured by Morgoth but escaped. They became outcasts.
What a great storyline that could have been for Adar....... when the scriptwriters had any talent.
Who needs source materials when you have jazz hands 👐🏼
😂
I fully agree with everything. Adar was the only real elf in all this mess. He looked the part and acted the part. I would have gladly watched this whole show if it was only about him.
Honestly, yeah this, I would like a show about the origin of the orcs,
their struggles with do they choose darkness in the face of such adversity and etc. (Throw in Adar giving Picard speeches to teach his kids)
That would be an actually interesting show
I'd love a show about a band of corrupted orcs struggling against their own nature. And the one elf who takes pity on them and tries to direct them down a better path.
It would likely end in tragedy but that can make for a good tale.
The writers are emotionally damaged children in adult bodies, so of course things like virtue and reason are put on villains. I imagine they’ve heard similar things from normal people and think putting them in the mouths of Sauron and Adar makes them somehow wrong.
I'm emoionally damaged, but dont see me taking a turd on someones IP. I just do it on my neighbours lawn. ppl need to be more considerate.
Why else do you have writers and directors saying that only anti-heroes and villains are "interesting and have any depth to them" and heroes are boring.
He is the only character I actually felt empathy and heartbreak for. He's likely the oldest Elf on the continent and therefore the closest to my heart. I hope they don't destroy is character in S2E1 with some cheap Halbrand nonsense walking up saying "recognize me now!?" before killing him.
Almost as old as Círdan
Slight correction. Arendir is a man who looked at a child and went "imma tap that some day." Every time I remember he watched this person grow up it adds another layer to the writers
good catch! I think his boss mentioned he had been there for 70 years so he would have watched her grow up. In our world, most (decent) people feel uncomfortable seeing someone in a romantic/lustful way that they knew as a kid when they were an adult
He's Woody Elven lol.
Wow I didn't even catch that. I think I just got used to seeing mortal/immortal relationships get a moral pass, a centuries old being dating an adult human can be squicky for some people cause it's like an adult human dating a human child, I personally don't think that's the case, sure the human in the relationship can get emotionally manipulated but they are an adult so they should know better. But combining that with the fact Arendir saw Bronwyn grow up... yeah I can't give that a pass, depending on how much they interacted when she was a kid it looks too much like grooming.
@@Prototype-357 Age gap is one thing; two strangers meeting and falling, it's just (as you said) this is an elf that's watched her-grow up. That in itself is an interesting plot hook and could be mined for a story/series on it's own.
Then again, this is Hollywood we're talking about, so I doubt it ever occurred to them it could be seen as distasteful.
I found it so hilarious that Adar was the only Elf who exuded that "Elvishness" to me. He was of a bit finer, yet strong built, had that elegance of face. Even if he was supposed to be only the shadow or remnant of an Elf - but still. He appeared as if he could well face the Peter Jackson Elrond. None of the others, including Galadriel, Gil-Galad and the ROP Elrond gave me this impression. He was the only ROP character I am interested in learning more of. He must have had an actually competent writer...hope they keep this one.
Gotta say, RoP actually impressed me; they made me root for Sauron and Adar whilst wishing a lot of the 'good guys' especially the one with a 'tempest within her' would get thrown into Mount Doom. Bravo writers, you totally subverted my expectations!
@9:31
🍣".....paradoxically he is the most Elven of all the elves on screen....."🍣
so true.
Could it have to do what he is also played by the only actor with experience?
Hmmm I think this one is on to something! 😂
It must be the long hair as well 😄😜
The part where Berek became Batman was just.... I'm shook.
😂
I hear that after the twilight kid moves on, the role is going to Berek
It's funny how Galadriel didn't care for her soldiers under her watch in episode 1 and putting them at the brink of death. Meanwhile Adar is Zaddy
Adar is the best acted and best written character in the show. well cast too. objectivity is something these amazon shills just will not acknowledge. remember - behind their vitriol, racism and smug statements they are seething because they know our criticism is valid.
True that, its too easy for them to just paint it as "toxic fanbase" and brush it aside. This show will be the Waterworld of TV shows for Amazon.
@@crappyfilmfans 👍👍
I haven't seen video's of podcast were Joseph Mawle is subjected to one of those crinchy sofball intervieuws that toot the horn how magnificent the show is and more how magnificent the actors themselves pretend to be.
Did I missed one or did Mawle not play in that circus? Wonder why?
@@kamion53 havent seen any. he's a white male so they dont want his opinion - he dont matter according to these types of halfwits pushing the agenda.
Are you saying a woman who is barely over 5 ft tall shouldn't have been cast as the tall, graceful 6' 3" Galadriel? How dare!
I absolutely adored Adar in the series. I was looking forward to seeing more of him but, just like you said, the more screentime he gets, the more those showrunners have a chance of messing up the character. I rooted for him and Sauron the entire time and was hoping of some sort of actual confrontation between the two, but, again, they would probably have messed that up, too. I hope they just let Adar be so we can have at least one good memory of this series.
hell yeah, same. Does that make us bad people? oh well
Very good video. And I agree. This small segment involving Adar and the orcs may have been the highlight of the entire season. And Uncle Benjin -- I mean Joseph Mawle -- was my favorite actor. Even though the horse was very good indeed.
The horse will forgive you for that I am sure, thank you :)
Well said. Sauron’s villain arc woukd’ve hit the spot like Adar’s if we had gotten at least a montage of him as Mairon, before his fall into darkness.
The best thing about rings of power is how many people went and read the source material because of it.
The first time I went through this video, I was listening to it in background mode, and I hadn't watched the final few episodes yet. I legitimately went into the last third of the show thinking "man, I'm psyched for this Berek dude, finally a real character!" only to discover he was a damn horse! I was bustin up, dude. Great video lol
That confused me as well!
😂
Guys, lets be accepting here, its 2022. Horse actors need to finally have their recognition.
@@crappyfilmfans very true! If they replaced the human cast with all horses, ROP would definitely improve 😂
I think it says much about the type of person you are when you write your Hero to be more of a villain than the actual villain of the story you're trying to tell. 😅
My brother in christ, if your 2 yo wrote down these letters to form actual words, you should be a very proud parent.
Great video. absolutely love your content.
He's a baby genuis and learns very quickly the lingo around the house. Ears like sponges. Thanks you for the kind words :)
How is a two year old already able to write letters?! That is remarkable intellectual development and motor control!
He has me as a father. Also good to see you know your childhood developmental milestones. Either your a father or on a register somewhere...
@@crappyfilmfans Tbh. If I had to decide what to burn and what to put on display in Versailles and I had to choose between ROP script and your child's painting, you can bet I'd put your child on the wall in Versailles and burn the script thrice.
I stopped watching the show on episode 6 because of how stupid it was:
Halbrand: About to kill Adar
Galadriel: No, we need him alive
Galadriel: Where is Sauron?
Adar: I killed him because he was abusive
Galadriel: I guess I'll kill every orc in the world and then you
Adar: Wow you're violent
Galadriel: I guess I'll kill you first!
Halbrand: No, we need him alive
Also thought Adar the most interesting character. On the cusp of salvation or damnation. One to keep and explore.
I've not watched the series, not even going to pirate that crap, but I enjoy watching those analysis videos very much. The funny thing is, from what I can tell, that the writers in their incompetence managed to create actually good and meaningful characters in what they intended to be the bad guys. This whole thing is kind of beautiful to watch in a weird way. It's like a Yin-Yang thing, like the only thing Clown world has left to invert is itself and by trying to deconstruct it so incompetently it inadvertently creates beauty, just in the exact opposite way it intended.
Absolutely superb. Now I'm tempted to pi-r-ate this show just to see Adar on screen.
They did read the Silmarillion, but they ignored the BEST parts of each characters... Adar is based on Eöl, known as the Dark Elf. He was a Sinda of the First Age. Akin to Thingol, he left Doriath to found his own realm in the forest of Nan Elmoth. He built up a friendship with the Dwarves of the Blue Mountains. That friendship gave him an insight into their craft, and he came to forge the swords Anguirel and Anglachel, the latter of which became Túrin's sword Gurthang.
I will add that the darkness in Eöl's heart was inherited by his son Maeglin and sowed the seeds for the Fall of Gondolin. The hidden city of King Turgon was destroyed after its location was betrayed to Morgoth by Maeglin. Glorfindel, (an important character in LOTR books) managed to escape the Fall of Gondolin with the Exiles. He fought the Balrog alone upon the pinnacle of a rock (imagery used in Rings of Power for the Mithril thing...) Both died after falling in the abyss. Glorfindel's spirit passed to the Halls of Waiting, where he waited with the spirits of the other Noldor who had died during their war against Morgoth. But because of Glorfindel's noble actions in life, his reluctance at the Exile, and his furthering of the purposes of the Valar by saving Tuor and Idril, Manwë allowed his re-embodiment after only a short time.
Eöl was also a creep and a pervert and tried murdering his own son. He is completely evil.
I can't tell if they read the silmarillion, unless they decide to ignore ALL of it, I would bet they didn't, cuz i dont see anything from it in the show, there is neither any resemblance to Eöl in adar.
I don't think so. Adar is an Amazon og character lol
trouble is they do not have the rights to the Silmarillion.
I really did enjoy this character, he was one of the few people who held your attention and garnered sympathy.
Interestingly, I haven't seen Joseph Mawle on any cast & crew panels yet, or being interviewed, or making dumb statements about the show (could've missed it, of course, maybe it's out there). He seems to kind stay away from the spotlight (which under the circumstances is a smart thing to do).
Yeah same for me, he may just be the type that wants to focus on his craft than to push woke issues in to peoples faces.
@@crappyfilmfans A highly commendable trait, imho 👍 Makes me respect Mr Mawle even more, along with admiring him for his acting talent.
he's in a crapfest of a show but despite this he is at least given us the best character in the show. I've not heard anyoen critical of the show say a bad thing about his character or performance
One month later, he was replaced! It’s unclear whether he quit or was fired.
@@asmodiusjones9563 he probably saw the final product and realized how truly bad it was
Apparently the actor left the show entirely. Well… alright then.
Adar and Sauron in series are actually good....seeing Morgoth himself wrote the series it doesnt suprise me...
I really really like Adar since the first time! 😍 He's absolutely necessary! I'm sad because I've never seen Joseph Mawle at the Rings of Power's premiers, or interviews! This is so unfair! 😪 Everybody invites all cast, but he never! 😢
Adar saved the whole Rings of... series. He showed that there was honor... that was undeniable. The rest of what we thought would be our heroes... proved they were stupid, mean, deceptive, had faults big enough to drive a Mac Truck through. These were not JRR Ts' we came to love. In this series, we find out that the good guys are as bad as the rest of us. WTF?
And also, he is the only fuckable elf in the show. How the heck did they manage to make a Tolkien show without a single fuckable elf is beyond me, but there you have it.
yes i agree that was the WORST thing about Rop
This was a powerful message from the showrunners, that nobody is truly patently evil...except rl LOTR fans of course.
Well... maybe when more experienced writers will come to the show (as the rumors go) then they have one good character to draw upon. Maybe then Adar will get to really shine here. And damn you are right about the most Elvish Character of the show that Adar is, with his quite confidence and even the looks: He is the only Elvish Character formed out of his actions and his appearance. All of the Elves should be like him here.
Great video man. I whole heartedly agree. I think they accidently made a compelling original character. Unfortunately all the canon characters with pages of back story werent written well enough to pit against him.
Thanks man, deffo by accident as the writers unlikely to do anything competent
My compliments for this fine analysis. Adar is my favorite character too. He stands above all others in this show. The actor did an outstanding job in his portrayal. One good thing the writers did. And the actor playing Adar is stepping away from the role. A smart decision on his part. I doubt this show can be salvaged.
A good idea would be to make a movie on Adar. Or a separate series. To be completed in three seasons. It will delve into his backstory from an elf to a Uruk. And his killing of Sauron. That should make for some good entertainment. See his transformation into who he has become.
Adar is the only good guy in the series. The rest are lord of the flies level villains, childish, needy, and Truly Evil.
,,Dignity,, , an excellent word.. dignity, even for the villain, some kind of inner (actor) esteem for the character which shines through the performance of an act
4:10 ship analysis and the drawing that goes with it are a work of art!
cant take credit for the drawing, i found it on reddit. I too tip my hat at the soul who came up with that
This is why The Expanse is such a phenomenal show and criminally underrated. Every. Single. Character. Is. Multi-dimensional. There are no bad guys, only antagonists with extremely understandable and relatable struggles.
decent rating on imdb, will add it to my list. thank you :)
@@crappyfilmfans You won’t regret it, my friend. It has become my favorite TV show of all time. S1 one is all about character introduction, world building and setting up the plotlines. A slow burn. Once S2 starts to kick in, you can’t stop. Then S3 comes out of nowhere and you’re wondering how this show consistently gets better. S4 jumps out of the bushes and you start to realize this show is slowly ruining all other shows for you. S5 then appears from the shadows and completely makes you question your taste in screenwriting in the last few years. Finally, S6 sticks the landing so well that it breaks you and you’re now desperate for more. That’s when you look towards the books and realize that this is just the start of a beautiful new relationship with passionate showrunners and actors who are fans of the source material as much as you. The writer of the books works closely with the cast so you know this is one phenomenal adaptation worthy of the source material.
My favorite show ever. Perfect character development and story. Every other show should learn from this a thing or two about diversity and strong female characters.
I'm in middle of S4 of Expanse. RoP's writers aren't fit to breath the same air as the Expanse's writers.
@@TheNameCannotBeFoundAbso-fucking-lutely. I dunno how I can live in a world without a Season 7 for the Expanse
Guyladriel threatening genocide - hero
Adar trying to stop global warming by pouring water into a vulcano - villain.
They have a better marketing team, #adarisgood
The one scene with him and supergirl elf makes her come off as Hitler. Adar's character almost makes me think the writers are secretly going to turn this whole thing on its head and make Sauron and the Orcs the protagonists and elves and man the antagonists. Season 1 was all a ruse. lol, yeah right that is entirely too clever and worthy of talk than this crew could ever hope to achieve.
I agree that Adar's concept was at least an interesting one; an ancient original orc who rebelled against Sauron in the name of his people. Great concept. Execution is so-so as the show hardly gives him his due and is more interestred in portraying him as one of the three Guess-who(?) Sauron candidates, despite the fact that Halbrand is transparently Sauron from the jump because this show has no way of subtlety about it.
You can already see the writers doing stupid things with him in the scene where he exposes an uruk's arm to the sun for no reason at all
Adar was the only good thing about this show. Joseph Mawle did a great job. 💜
Seeing the title, my first thought: "Damn, man, what's wrong with Adar? You're going to sarcastically roast one of a few characters who actually have a convincing exposition, really?!"
Nice video, although I would disagree with the analysis of "Joker", which has the of a sledgehammer. The child's painting at the end cracked me up)
So our morally disconnected ‘heroes’ are villains, but Adar, who is meant to be a villain is definitely a hero. It’s absolute madness, how can anyone be that bad at writing, take any show from the 90ties and all of them atleast have the characters portray the correct character.
Authors of the RoP made a good case for "Morgoth was right all along." This world is full of vile, imperfect and utterly undeserving of existence things as he would undoubtedly describe it. At time of original books it could be attributed to his pride and envy but in show it rings pretty true... maybe it was their aim all along? Or maybe I am giving them way too much credit.
Amazing video; a more serious one. I had watched parts of the show only in a few videos like these. At some point, I had actually thought: Did they accidentally create a fantastic character and it happens to be the second villain? Anti-Villain. Is that a common thing?
lol I think they did this all by accident by messin the main characters up, not seen it that often, cant even think of the last time I came across something like this
This was a very well thought out look into what it means to drive a character, and the actions that make that character endearing in any way. Nicely done.
I'm still all about that it's cool to see what Uncle Bengen is up to with now dealing with the Orks rather than dealing with the white walkers. lol.
Thank-you for an excellent essay, good Sir. I would be hard pressed to find fault with any of your points, well done.
Also, I wished to extend my appreciation for you using "anti-villain" in the appropriate context. Far too many people (not well versed in their native language) confuse "anti-villain" with "anti-hero". It's refreshing to see words used to describe, as intended. :)
When bad writers accidentally create a decent character they always destroy them in the end because at some point they realize that character's strengths makes the glaring flaws in the main characters more evident. It's weird a problem you'd usually find in amateur writing made it into a billion dollar show.
Good analysis.
It really says everything about this show that the guy who calls himself an Uruk is more elvish than any of the actual Elves...
I mean the real villain is guyladriel-her actions are villianous and they lead to sauron, who was thinking about maybe doing good, embracing a path that will lead to the events of the 3rd age. arguably without guyladriel sauron may have done... nothing? we dont know.
the main character is sauron. it is a story about sauron's rise to power, seen through guyladriel's eyes.
and yes adar is the good guy that we dont get to know. he is the only single force that might have recognized and ended sauron's rise. he is the only hope for the orcs and might have led them into a more civilized future.
Adar is played by a great actor, like Viserys in House of the Dragon. The right actor can really make or break a movie. I really wanted to know more about him, he was so interesting. I agree that there are no good heroes in the series, but I am not sure if it is on purpose or not. The heroes seem to be the unlikely ones like future Gandalf and Nori and Durin and the dwarves and even the horses! The Elves are not put in a positive light, and it might be on purpose. The humans are little better. I do wonder what will happen in the second season, but the writers need to become more consistent and double check what they are writing. There are many things that just don't make sense. Didn't they have there writings checked by someone for a series on this level?
The character you're LEAST looking forward to seeing in Season 2? What, even more so than GALADRIEL??
I admire the way you've broken this down in such an insightful way. I doubt that the writers had any of this in mind when they wrote this though - any symmetry/opposition between the motives of Adar and the so-called 'heroes' was almost certainly accidental.
I think one of my favorite scenes is when Waldreg and his group pledged loyalty to Adar under the assumption that he was Sauron. But when Waldreg asks him "You are Sauron, are you not?", Adar fucking kicks him down, telling us that this elf, whoever he is, despises that name.
The writers are going to claim, oh yeah, we totally meant for him to be sympathetic and our lead to be a monster. Sad thing is, they kinda did, only they also meant to do the opposite and refused to just pick a lane and decide what story they wanted to tell.
Can easily agree that Adar is the best developed character. The problem is that there is literally no where for him to go in the story. He has to die or be removed before the War of the Ring. Typical problem for a prequel. The writers have develop a story and characters that have no impact on canon, therefore removing all tension.
At this point Balrog has every right to defend his home
Long live Adar, King of the Southlands!
If he was Maglor (Feanor’s last remaining son) it would’ve gave the show something special
The sas thing is the writers are so terrible, what they created with Adar, his contrast with the so-called heroes ,is most likely accidental. Such hacks in charge of adapting one of the best IPs in the world.
I could imagine that the actor who plays Adar actually had a fixed idea of who his character is, and I don't mean that as in being told by the directors but creating it out of the little bit he got. Because several main characters in this show feel "randomized", their actions, their morals, their goals, their thoughts... they change and are flipped on their heads to fit a scene which means consistency or a clear line to follow is missing, something that's kind of important for a good performance and character creation imo. Even the joker is consistent in his madness.
So yeah, I do believe the directing is partially at fault for this mess. Plus the script. And I agree with not wanting to see Adar again in season 2 because they could easily ruin him like all the other characters...
Good video. It's a shame that Adar is wasted on a show as awful as rings of power.
yeah, it's like he wander in from a much better production and got lost on the ROP set
One of the producers, writers or so said in a twitter or reddit post, that they want to make Sauron in Season 2 like a Heisenberg or Tony Soprano. Comparing the first season is like Batman Begins and they are aware that most people would probably have preferd to see "the dark knight" straight away. Like WTF?! So not even Sauron is supposed to be like a real villain anymore, so all we are left with are Anti-Heros and Anti-Villains and who is Batman supposed to be in this mess? Galadriel? WTF!!! Once I read this post I instantly understood how this mess of a series got to be, rather than taking Tolkiens great fantasy works and focussing on telling good stories with 3D Characters they are rather focus on wokeness, feminism and are obsessed with the Sopranos, Breaking Bad and fucking Batman and think they are so smart than they can make this Rings of Tony Heisenberg and Batwoman mess work?! SMH At this point they really leave us no choice but to become completly cynical and sarcastic... What a joke haha
Thank you for some truth.
I honestly felt insulted for him in some of the scenes.
In my opinion the only character worthy of Tolkien's lore, at least in this abomination.
Keep it sardonic as always, looking forward to next week.
Thanking you bro, with better writing the premis of a fallen Elf who is venturing back towards his lands with the orcs would build such great tension. Hope they dont crap in the bed with season 2
This show was written by people who know nothing of pain or sorrow.
They have felt only joy and happiness... Having been sheltered from life their whole existence.
now every character has to be humanized... even orcs. i bet that JRRT is pretty happy in valinor right now
Nah, JRRT himself did that. IE in *Morgoths Ring* he wrote
But even before this wickedness of Morgoth was suspected the Wise in the Elder Days taught always that the Orcs were not 'made' by Melkor, and therefore were not in their origin evil. They might have become irredeemable (at least by Elves and Men), but they remained within the Law. That is, that though of necessity, being the fingers of the hand of Morgoth, they must be fought with the utmost severity, they must not be dealt with in their own terms of cruelty and treachery. Captives must not be tormented, not even to discover information for the defence of the homes of Elves and Men. If any Orcs surrendered and asked for mercy, they must be granted it, even at a cost.
Galadriel being a spoiled child, on the other hand...
I think, we should not take the Rings of Power too seriously. The show is not worth it. If they managed to make Adar more likable than Galadriel and Elrond, well, it is not a merit, but rather a fault. Their "Galadriel" is a kind of psychopath, somehow reminiscent of the famous female serial killer Aileen Wuornos.
true that
easily the biggest stand out, just a shame we didint get more of him really
Adar: Do you wanna know how I got these scars?
Yes, Morgoth?
A beautifully thought out and well presented commentary about the character that I, too, thought was the best of the rest in that otherwise ridiculous waste of time, resources and mountains of money....The Rings of Boredom. Got a sub from me for your many undeniable talents. Talent earns subs without need of prompting as the end product, when excellent, as is shown in your many videos, is all that's ever needed to earn them.
Adar is best boy.
And probably the only single good written character in that crap show !
Paradoxically, he's in a way, the most pure and sensible character in the show, and the one who have an understandable and reliable goal, despite questionnable methods.
I like the theme of betrayeal in the series. It fits well. Amazon betrayed Tolkien and the fans, so it's pretty accurate.
This is so true. He is the only character I felt sorry for.
In the absence of a true heros, I see Adar more as an anti-hero. Yes, he does bad things, but I justify him, understand him. And after all, he is a hero to his orcs for now.
And man I'm just weak about Joseph Mawle in everything. I'm in love in his acting since 2007.
I’m with you on that one Marla. The condom is the glass slipper 🥿 of our generation
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Adar, the one character I had no expectations for but who proved to be a truly fascinating character nonetheless.
I must say, that rant Galadriel spits at Adar towards the end of the series is probably one of the most racist pieces of fictional dialogue ever written, I felt so bad for the poor orc.
You are 100% correct that he is the only elf in the show. All other look and act like a bunch of poorly dressed cosplayers. I look at them and do not see a drop of elf in them. Just some weird dudes with glued ears who were told to act important. And Karendriel who i do not even know where to start with. I am not a big fan of the Shadows of Mordor games. But just compare their Celebrimbor story with that weird old dude from the show. It was like he was casting to be a hobbit, but they made him an elf for some insane reason.
Most elf looking and acting character is an uruk 😆
Good take. I wold say that, generally speaking, the villains in this show were better people than most of the heroes, even Halbrand/Sauron.
I am grateful to Amazon, because if there wasn't Rings of Power, I wouldn't find your channel.
Thank you! Glad to have you onboard matey 😊
The rings of power is a modern masterpiece in storytelling; heroes are unlikeable villains, and villains are compassionate, and relatable heroes. lol.
I hope this guy Sauron conquers middle earth, orcs truly deserve freedom, they have suffered enough. lol.
The actor is excellent also
Did you change your microphone? If so then this one makes your exquisite narrating voice even better than before! Very pleasant to listen to.
Also, Happy Spookiness 👻🎃
Haha I actually spend a day youtubing how take away bit of the hiss for the mic in Premier Pro and messed around with some of the settings! Itss got some basssss now :) Happy Halloween matey - thank you for dropping by :)
in the modern era, you spend your time being afraid that your favorite characters will be character assasinated more than you spend time enjoying the story being told
You only have five videos out?! damn man, you off to a good start. Keep it up!! I subscribe.
Thank you buddy
The accountant was actually a good movie.
I think if the people making this show set out to write a character as boring he/she would end up being the most dynamic character in the show.
Giancarlo Esposito in Revolution played Tom Neville an accountant that becomes a warlord's brutal henchman.
It takes a 'High' queen to fit all of that horses and men in that ship
deffo smokin the ganja